Gensler said to discuss second term at CFTC

Nomination still on hold...

The Obama administration has opened discussions with Gary Gensler about serving a possible second term as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Gensler has also discussed other economic or financial jobs in the administration, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. Gensler hasn’t been told he will be nominated for a second CFTC term or to a different job, the person said.

Gensler has led the five-member commission in its effort to write new Dodd-Frank Act rules overseeing derivatives trading by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other companies. The law was enacted following the 2008 credit crisis as an effort to reduce risk and increase transparency in the financial system.

The White House press office declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal reported on the discussions earlier today.

Gensler, who has said he’d be willing to serve a second term, took office in May 2009 and his term officially expired in April 2012. Federal rules permit him to remain in his post until the end of 2013 without being renominated by President Barack Obama.

Gensler has been criticized on Wall Street for the scope of the CFTC’s regulations and the potential they have to increase costs on banks and other users of derivatives.